Combination door holder and stopper



April 21, 1964 CHI SHENG KUO 3,129,969

COMBINATION DOOR HOLDER AND STOPPER Filed Dec. 29, 1961 INVENTOR. CHI SHENG KUO ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,129,969 COMBINATION DOOR HOLDER AND STOPPER Chi Sheng Kuo, 1i) Tunis Ave, Yonkers, N.Y. Fiied Dec. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 163,141 1 Claim. (131. 292333) This invention relates to hardware, and more particularly to a combination door holder and stopper.

A primary object of this invention is to provide an improved combination door holder and stopper of the type disclosed in my United States Patent No. 2,988,392, dated June 13, 1961, which is simpler and more efficient and practical in construction and at the same time less costly to manufacture. Door holders and stoppers of this type serve the double purpose of, primarily, holding the door open in any position and, secondarily, stopping the door from slamming against the wall.

Another object of the invention is the provision in such a device of means for varying the degree of resistance to movement of the door between open and closed positions so that the device may be adapted for use in connection with all types of floor surfaces.

Still another object of the invention is the construction of the device in such a manner as to prevent the accumulation of dust and to resist corrosion, whether it is used indoors or on outer doors which are exposed to the weather.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein FIG. 1 is a front elevational View of a combination door holder and stopper made in accordance with the present invention and attached to a door in the usual position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of PEG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 66 of PEG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of a roller support member and a roller, showing a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the roller support member of FIG. 7, per se; and

FIG. 9 is partly a top plan view and partly a sectional view of the roller support member and roller of FIGS. 1-4, but showing a modification in the form of means for adjusting or varying the frictional engagement between the roller support and the roller.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the device of this invention is shown to include a stationary portion 10 adapted to be fixed to any type of hinged door 22 and a movable portion 11. The portion 11 will hereinafter be referred to as a door holder, although it serves also as a door stopper as will become apparent below.

The stationary portion 11) includes a mounting bracket 12 formed by stamping and bending a single piece of sheet metal or other suitable material. From the top wall 14 of the bracket 12, two side walls 16 and 17 extend downward, and two mounting flanges 18 and 19 extend outward at right angles from the rear edges of the side walls 16 and 17. The flanges 18 and 19 contain apertures 21 through which screws or fasteners 21 pass to fix the bracket 12 to the door 22.

The bracket 19 further includes a rear wall or tongue 24 bent or extending downward from the rear edge of the top wall 14 for approximately one-half of the distance between the wall 14 and the bottom edges of the side walls 16 and 17. Bent or formed to extend forward and inward from the lower edge of the rear Wall 24 is a nose 26 provided with an aperture 28. Apertures 3t) and 31 are provided near the front edges of the side walls 16 and 17 approximately midway between the top wall 14 and the lower edges of the side walls 16 and 17.

The movable portion 11 includes a roller support member 32 having two elongated side arms 34 and 35 bent or extending downward from a shorter top or upper portion 36. A spring-connecting plate 38 having an aperture 39 is bent or extends downward from the front edge of the top portion 36 between the side arms 34 and 35. Rivets or other suitable pivot fasteners 40 and 41 extend through apertures 36 and 31 in the bracket 12 and through aligned apertures in the rearwardly disposed ends of the side arms 34 and 35 so that the rearmost portion of the roller support member 32 is pivotally secured within the mounting bracket 12.

A roller 42 is rotatably secured between the forwardly disposed ends of the side arms 34 and 35. The roller preferably has a wood or plastic core 44 about which there is fixed a tire 4-6, preferably made of rubber and provided with a non-skid tread 47. Shouldered bushings 50 and 51, of piastic or other suitable material, extend into a central aperture 43 in the roller .2. Extending through the side arms 34 and 35 and through the bushings 5t) and 51 is the roller shaft 4-8 which may be in the form of a single rivet, as shown. Disposed between one end head 48:: of the shaft 48 and an adjacent side arm 34 or 35 is a spring washer 52. This washer urges the side arms inward to squeeze the bushings 51B and 51 against the roller. Depending upon the length of the shaft 43 and the pressure exerted by the spring washer 52, a minimum critical torque will be required to rotate the roller against the braking force thus applied.

A tension spring 56 is hooked through the aperture 39 of the spring-connecting plate 38 and through the aperture 23 of the nose 26. Consequently, as the roller support member 32 is moved downward from the position thereof shown in broken lines in FIG. 2 a critical distance, the spring 56 will force the roller into contact with the floor. As the roller tread 47 resists skidding of the roller on the floor, the door can be moved only by rotating the roller against the brake action above mentioned. If the door is moved from one position to another by forcing it against this brake action, the tire 46 will roll harmlessly over the floor and not mark or otherwise damage it.

When it is not required to hold a door in any given position, the roller support member 32 is raised into the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 2. In this position the top or roof portion 36 of the member 32 will contact and be stopped by the forwardly disposed edge of the top wall 14 of the mounting bracket 12, to limit the upward movement of the member 32. As the tension spring 56 passes the axis through the rivets 4t and 41 it urges the member '52 upward to retain it in the inoperative raised position. In this raised position the roller serves as a door stopper to cushion the impact in case the door is swung against an adjacent wall.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, wherein the roller supporting member 32a is made of a springy material and its side arms 34a and 35:: have at least the outer ends thereof pre-set or preflexed to normally occupy the positions shown in broken lines in FIG. 8 and designated by the numerals 34b and 35b, the form thereof is otherwise identical to that of the member 32 previously described. When the roller 42 and its bushings 5i) and 51 is inserted between the pre-set or flexed side arm portions 3 34b and 35b the latter are bent outward so that, in the final assembly, they exert a braking pressure upon the roller. This eliminates the need for the spring washer 52 and also results in the roller shaft 48b requiring a lesser length than'the shaft 48.

FIG. 9 shows another modified structure as applied only to the braking or friction means forvarying the degree of frictional braking applied to the roller 42. Parts in this view which are the same as parts shown in FIGS. 1-4 and 6 bear the same reference numerals. The only difference between the structures previously described and that shown in FIG. 9 consists in providing the roller shaft, indicated at 60 with an internally threaded bore 61 at one end and providing a set screw 62 therein, with the spring washer 52 positioned between the head of this screw and the adjacent side wall or arm 35 of the rollerv support member 32; since the side arms 34 and 35 are identical the roller shaft may extend therethrough in one direction or the other. also provided in the form of a screw head, that is, with a diametrical slot. Thus, in an obvious manner, the braking force applied to the roller may be varied at will to suit the particular circumstances under which the device is used.

It will be noted that the top wall 14 and the side walls 16 and 17 of the mounting bracket 12 as shown extend over and about the spring 56. In a like manner, the roof or upper portion 36 and the rearmost portions of the ed to be attached to a door with said side walls in substantially vertical position, and a rear Wall extending downward from the rear edge of said top wall, a unitary roller support member including an upper portion, elongated side arms extending downward from the longitudinal edges of said upper portion and extending forward beyond the front edge of said upper portion, two aligned fastening members pivotally securing the rearwardly disposed portions of said side arms to the roller support member between the side walls of said mounting bracket, a roller having a yieldable outer surface, bushings disposed between the sides of said roller and the inner sur faces of said side arms, a roller shaft extending through The head 63 of the shaft 60 is between said side arms, and a tension spring connected at one end to said rear wall, said upper portion of the roller support member having a plate extending downward from the front edge thereof, the other end of the tension spring being connected to said plate, said tension spring, maintaining said roller support member selectively in a downwardly extending position 'in which the roller is adapted to contact the floor below the door and in an upwardly extending positionin which the top surface of said upper portion of the roller support member rests side'arms 34 and 35 of the members 32 and 32a also exi tend about the spring 56. Thus dust settling downward will not gather within the coils of the spring 56, and falling rain or precipitation in other forms will be at least partly if not wholly excluded from the spring so that the spring will be protected from corrosive action. These features are apparent in the drawing, and they are efiective in either the lowered operative position of the portion 11 or in its raised inoperative position.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the embodiments thereof illustrated in the drawing such is not to be construed as a limitation upon the invention which is best defined in the appended claim.

The invention having thus ,been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

A combination door holder; and'stopper device comprising a unitary mounting bracket having a top .wall, side walls extending downward from said top wall, mounting flanges extending outward from the rearwardly disposed edges of said side walls whereby the device is adaptagainst the front edge of said top wall of the mounting bracket, said plate extending downward to a depth approximately equal to one half of the depth of said side arms of the roller support member, and having an aperture therein near the lower end thereof, said rear wall of the mounting bracketextending downward to a depth approximately equal to one-half of the depth of said side walls and having a nose on its lower end extending forward therefrom and provided with an aperture, said tension spring having said one end thereof hooked in said nose aperture and having said other end thereof hooked in said plate aperture, the top wall, the side walls and the rear wall of the mounting bracket and the upper portion and the side arms and said plate of the roller support member thereby providing protective cover means open only at the bottom within'which the tension spring is confined to protect the tension spring in both of said positions of the roller support member from precipitation and dust falling upon or against the sides'of the device.

Dunn Oct. 30, 1917 Kuo June 13, 1961 

